Not on the Boston Red Sox's list of Top 30 prospects, starting pitcher Teddy Stankiewicz is an underated hurler in Double-A, who could go far. Projected to top out as a #3 or #4 starter, Stankiewicz has had an up and down season in his first season in Double-A. He started out tremendously, his ERA sitting a 1.13 after four starts. However, having to face the Binghampton Mets for the second straight start, Stankiewicz suffered a hiccup, surrendering eight runs over 3.2 innings of work, his first tough start in Double-A. He was brilliant in his following four starts after that outing though, accumulating a 2.88 ERA over 25 innings pitched. In nine outings, he recorded eight quality starts. 

However, another rough start followed, the numbers almost exactly the same as Stankiewicz's first hiccup. Stankiewicz entered that contest with a 3.25 ERA. Having failed to get on a roll since then, Stankiewicz's ERA ballooned to 5.24, a season-high mark. After eight quality starts in his first nine appearances, Stankiewicz has recorded just three quality starts in his last ten games, as well as a 7.40 ERA in that time. 

Finally, in Stankiewicz's latest start, he may have finally put in a performance that can jumpstart himself out of this terrible slump, which might help him build his case for a promotion to Triple-A. 

Dominating performance from Stankiewicz leads Portland Sea Dogs to victory

Coming off a tough start in which he gave up five runs, Stankiewicz dominated from the first pitch. He needed just nine pitches in each of the first three innings, against the Erie Seawolves, a top-5 hitting team in the Eastern League. The lineup also featured former major-leaguer Anthony Gose. 

Ultimately, Stankiewicz would hold a perfect game through five innings, striking out two batters, both swinging. One whiff came on his slider, the other on a changeup in the dirt. He picked up another strikeout to start the sixth inning, but then surrendered the first Erie hit of the night, a clean single up the middle. He quickly induced a pair of fly outs and got out of the inning, having thrown just 60 pitches.

More impressively, Stankiewicz's first six innings came while protecting a slim 1-0 lead. Not only did he dominate the Erie lineup, he did it under circumstances in which one swing could have tied the game. In the seventh, Stankiewicz cruised through the meat of the Erie lineup, inducing a fly-out, striking out Gose, and inducing a weak ground-out off the bat of Jason Krizan, who had hit two scorching line drive outs earlier in the game. 

The Sea Dogs scored single runs in both the sixth and seventh innings to give Stankiewicz a little breathing room. It was more than enough for Stankiewicz, who did not allow another baserunner. In the eighth inning, he induced a ground-out, sandwiched by two more strikeouts, his fifth and sixth, tying his season-high. 

Having thrown 88 pitches, Stankiewicz went back out for the ninth inning to attempt his first career complete game. His prior career high had  been 8 innings, set on May 25, 2015, with Single-A Salem.

Teddy Stankiewicz had his best career outing on May 25, 2015. milb.com

 By inducing a fly out from Grayson Greiner, the man responsible for Erie's only hit, Stankiewicz ensured he would set a career-high in innings pitched. However, Stankiewicz wanted more. He set a season-high in strikeouts by fanning Harold Castro for the second out.

He almost gave up a hit to leadoff man Wynston Bernard, but Bernard's line drive bounced off Stankiewicz's leg to shortstop Mauricio Dubon, who threw to first to end the game in a speedy 1 hour and 58 minutes. It took Stankiewicz just 96 pitches to complete the game. 

Stankiewicz will attempt to use this outstanding game as a springboard of momentum for his future starts, as he attempts to earn a promotion to Triple-A Pawtucket. Still just 22 years old, Stankiewicz has plenty of time to develop. If he can build off this start, and utilize the potential he showed, Stankiewicz's could be cracking the Red Sox rotation in a few years. 

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